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ShareNew Delhi: The Headend In The Sky (HITS) policy has been sent to the Union Cabinet for approval, minister for information and broadcasting Ambika Soni on Friday told the Parliamentary Consultative Committee. Also, the draft guidelines for the third phase of private FM radio have been finalised and may soon be presented to the Cabinet.
The HITS policy has been in the making for quite some time. HITS, with its wider operational coverage area through satellite, is expected to help digital distribution of signals throughout the country at one go with lower investments by cable operators,
compared with the present networks.
The Essel group's Wire & Wireless India would be the first company to launch HITS in the country under the new legal framework, once the approval is granted.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had issued recommendations for HITS operation last year. "To ensure faster digitalisation and addressability in the cable sector and to ensure greater competition, it is desirable that these permission holders should be allowed to provide the HITS operation on the existing terms and conditions, till at least such time that the terms and conditions of HITS licence are notified by the government," Trai had recommended in early 2008.
Issues like foreign investment ceiling, use of transponder/satellite, licensing norms etc would be notified by the government for the HITS platform.
As for the third phase of private FM radio, the government is looking at opening another 800 odd stations across 27 cities in the country. There's a proposal to hike FDI from 20 to 26 per cent in FM radio and also allow news from select sources including Doordarshan and All India Radio.
